Brentford travel to the Madejski Stadium on Saturday afternoon knowing that they realistically need to achieve three points in order to remain alive in the race for a playoff place in the Championship.

Reading are safe from relegation, but after a lengthy period without a win, they need to end a poor season on a high.

Reading

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After a disappointing week for the club in both the Championship and FA Cup, Reading must try to end the season on a positive note and restore some belief ahead of next season.

The Royals produced a spirited display to compete with Arsenal for large parts of their match at Wembley, but they ultimately came unstuck after a mistake from goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Their following fixture at the Madejski against Birmingham City was similar to their previous home game with Bournemouth. Steve Clarke's team made plenty of the running and had numerous chances to score but they couldn't prevent a one-goal defeat.

Their recent results don't do their performances justice but they haven't recorded a win in seven games, and if the season were extended by a month, they would be in danger of relegation.

They are safe from dropping into League One but Clarke will be eager to end the campaign no lower than 19th place, their current position, although that may prove difficult with a trip to Derby County still lying ahead.

A solution needs to be found for their lack of goals from their forward line, but Clarke will be delighted with a defence that has conceded just four goals in their last five league outings.

Recent form: LDDDLL
Recent form (all competitions): DDDLLL

Brentford

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Brentford will be relatively content with still being active in the Championship promotion race, but they should be occupying a higher spot in the league table.

After they left themselves having to score two late goals to draw with Nottingham Forest, they enjoyed the better of the game against Derby County before conceding a last-minute equaliser.

Last weekend, the Bees twice held an advantage over Bolton Wanderers at Griffin Park before conceding two goals, the second of which came from miscommunication between goalkeeper and defence.

Maintaining their focus, especially in the Derby and Bolton games, would have seen the club sitting just a win away from securing a place in the playoffs, but they must now rely on other results if they are to sneak into the top six.

Scoring goals haven't been a problem to Mark Warburton's side, but they have recorded just one clean sheet in their last 15 Championship fixtures, which came in a home win over Blackpool.

Warburton will back his players to leave the Madejski Stadium with three points, but he will be aware that they need to apply themselves professionally and efficiently to come away with a maximum return against a team who should push them throughout the 90 minutes.

Recent form: DWDDLD

Team News

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After acknowledging that his side have been unfortunate in recent games, Clarke may not make any voluntary alterations to his team for the visit of Brentford.

However, one change is enforced after Chelsea requested that Nathan Ake return to Stamford Bridge after completing his loan period, meaning that Stephen Kelly is likely to come into the team.

The visitors will be without on-loan forward Chris Long after the Everton man was ruled out after having stitches taken out of a gashed knee.

Warburton could make a change in midfield, with Jon Toral or Stuart Dallas potentially replacing Alan Judge.

Reading possible starting lineup:
Federici, Gunter, Cooper, Hector, Kelly, McCleary, Karacan, Chalobah, Obita, Mackie, Blackman

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Button, Odubajo, Dean, Tarkowski, Bidwell, Douglas, Diagouraga, Peleteiro Ramallo, Toral, Pritchard, Gray

Head To Head

Reading hold a slender advantage over Brentford from a historical perspective, with four wins being registered in nine meetings in comparison to three by the visitors.

However, Reading haven't won in their last three fixtures with Brentford, with their last win occurring when the two clubs featured in League One in 2001.

Earlier this season, it was Brentford who prevailed by a 3-1 scoreline thanks to goals from Jota, Alex Pritchard and Jonathan Douglas.

We say: Reading 1-2 Brentford

Reading are due to have the rub of the green in one of their remaining three matches, but a complete performance from Brentford is just around the corner too and we think that they will finish the stronger of the two sides to sneak a win in the closing stages.

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